The present invention relates to methods and devices for improving percutaneous access in minimally invasive surgeries, and more particularly to methods and devices that provide a template for the extracorporeal selection and contouring of connecting devices based on landmark locations within the body, and the percutaneous transfer of connecting devices and instruments, particularly such selected or contoured devices, within one or more access channels to positions defined by particular locations within the body.
It is well known that traditional surgical procedures in locations deep within a patient's body require a long incision, extensive muscle stripping, prolonged retraction of muscles for visualization, and denervation and devascularization of the adjacent tissue. These procedures result in extensive tissue traumatization and consequently in prolonged recovery time, risk of infections, high hospitalization costs, pain that can be more severe than the pain due to the initial ailment, and in some cases permanent scarring. In minimally invasive surgical procedures, portals are used to access the locations deep in the patient's body. The use of portals rather than a long incision causes less trauma to the adjacent tissue, reduces the recovery time and pain and may be performed in some case under only local anesthesia. The avoidance of general anesthesia reduces post-operative recovery time and the risk of complications.
Minimally invasive surgical procedures are especially desirable for spine surgeries because spine pathologies are located deep within the body without clear muscle planes and there is danger of damaging the adjacent neural and vascular tissues. In treating the majority of spinal pathologies, the spinal muscles are stripped from the bony elements of the spine followed by laminectomy to expose the dura, the nerve roots, and the discs. The incision has to be wide enough and the tissues have to be retracted to maintain a channel from the skin to the floor of the spinal canal that will allow direct visualization. This is similar to an open surgery approach to the knee to expose the menisci versus minimally invasive alternatives such as an arthroscopy which uses 1 centimeter portals under illuminated magnification which results in improved visualization, reduced postoperative knee pain, recovery time, and the destruction of healthy tissue. The destruction to the spinal structures is even more extensive during fusion procedures, which require more lateral tissue dissection and exposure to access the transverse processes and pedicles for placement of pedicle screws, rod constructs for stability, and bone graft under direct vision.
Furthermore, in spine fusion procedures, connecting elements, such as rods, plates or wires are placed and fixed between two or more locations of the spine. Placement of these connecting elements requires open surgery, which is currently one of the major limitations of other percutaneous cannula access methodologies. Accordingly there is a need for inserting and placing these connecting elements between two or more separate spinal locations without performing open surgery.
A wide variety of orthopedic implants exist. Such implants are typically anchored to bones within the body. Every person has different bone structure; accordingly, implants must vary considerably in geometry to meet the needs of a broad range of patients. Connecting elements are an example of an orthopedic implant that often must be specially configured, adjusted, or selected based on the internal anatomical configuration of the patient's bone structure. Although visualization methods such as X-Rays and fluoroscopy can be utilized to help determine bone geometry, contact with the bones must often be made in order to provide a sufficiently accurate measurement of bony landmarks.
Trial fittings of an implant within the body are often required. In open treatment procedures, access to the operation site is typically sufficiently large to allow fitting and adjustment of implants such as connecting devices within the body. This is not feasible in minimally invasive surgical procedures because the surgeon has neither the physical access nor visibility required to test and adjust the device in situ.
According to new minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures, many orthopedic implants can be secured to bone through relatively small incisions. Unfortunately, if a larger incision must be made to permit bone measurement and implant selection or configuration, most of the beneficial effects of the MIS implantation procedure will be lost. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for bony landmark measurement and implant selection or configuration methods that can be carried out through small incisions. Such methods should be relatively simple and quick to perform, with comparatively simple instrumentation.
Furthermore, there is a need to provide a system, apparatus and method that solves the combined problems of using minimally invasive surgery for inserting and fastening implants such as connecting elements to bone locations such as spinal vertebrae and also allows configuration of the implants based on internal landmarks locations without performing open surgery.